PhotoEssays

The Unforgettable History Somalia, October 2010

Tags:

Aden Abdulle Osman will be remembered not only as Somalia's first president; he was also the first African leader to hand over power to a democratically elected successor. Elected in 1960, when the former British and Italian Somali colonies united to form the Republic of Somalia, Osman lost the 1967 presidential election and, unlike so many African leaders before and since, accepted his defeat graciously and gave up power.
Sadly, his successor, Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, did not have the opportunity to do the same. Shermarke was assassinated in 1969 and Mohamed Siad Barre led a coup that ushered in 22 years of military rule. Worse was to follow for Somalia as Siad Barre was

AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 2000 news and information items daily from over 130 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Lagos, Monrovia, Nairobi and Washington DC.